Scorpius's NB8B Franken SP Project

[Scorpius2501]

Took off the cover, belts and all the pulleys.


Removed the water pump. Hardest part was removing the inlet gasket that has been stuck on to the inlet and had to be scraped off. Putting the new water pump in was pretty straight forward.


Gave the cam cover a bit of colour before reinstalling.


Fresh looking cam cover installed, along with the new radiator. Its looking beast as it twice as thick as the original radiator.



I made a DIY intercooler bracket to hang the FMIC off the 2 bolts in the bonnet latch, just like the Flyin' Miata ones. Took 2 pieces of Bunnings Caryina 150mm x40 x 2 make-a-bracket, conveniently already in an L-shape and bolted it onto a long piece of aluminium angle, then reinforced it with rivets for good measure. The final fitment was okay, but one thing that still concerns me is the power steering cooling loop - it passes above the FMIC inlet and is touching it. I've been struggling to find a way to bend it out of the way to give the intercooler inlet enough clearance for the piping and clamps.

[Scorpius2501]

Yes!

Finally got the IC mounted, I had to use a crowbar to lift the power steering cooler over the intercooler inlet on the right side. Now there is about 1cm clearance between the inlet and the lines, which should be just enough space for the silicone joiners and the clamps to go in at a later stage.



I have now put all the rest of the bits back in, such as the front fender, air intake system and the air dam.

[Scorpius2501]

So I had put everything back together and put the key in and turned it. Cranks but no start. My heart drops to the floor.

Over the last several weeks I was banging my head against this problem, I had checked and re-checked everything multiple times. Wiring, fuel, crank sensor clearance, changed spark plugs and back again still not good. This was doing my head in as the car was in working condition before the installation of the intercooler and timing belt change!

So I decided to get an OBD2 reader to have a look at the trouble codes. Bought an ELM327 Bluetooth one off ebay and it connects to my phone just fine but cannot communicate with the ECU on any protocol, I took it to my friends Subaru forrester and it worked fine - another arrow in the knee. I wasn't going to give up though so I bought another ELM327 reader, this time a USB based one. I tried 2 different software with it, PCMscan and ScanMaster. PCM scan didnt work but ScanMaster did connect to the ECU so finally I though I was getting somewhere. So I go through the diagnostic software and read the DTC codes, no DTC's reported... the ECU thinks everything is fine.

I was stumped. Over the subsequent week I was just scratching my head and scouring every tidbit of information I could find on this issue. Then i found a thread on miata.net and someone else who had the symptoms as me and it turned out to be a crank sensor issue. But I already checked the sensor multiple times, it was fine in that it had no open circuits or short circuits and I was positive that the air gap was to spec and I did the clearance with a feeler guage. So i went back to the computer and cranked it again while looking at the real time PID's and it noticed that it wasn't reporting the Engine RPM even while cranking so i thought that wasn't right. So I gapped the CKPS Sensor multiple times with the same result, I found it hard to believe the sensor had died since all I had done with it was take it off and put it back on again. Scouring the web once more I found a great article by Andy at Adaptronic, I recommend everyone to take a read of it here: http://www.adaptronic.com.au/forum/inde ... pic=5137.0

Trap #4: Not believing the evidence. This hit me hard cos that's pretty much what I realised I was doing. Despite the unlikelihood of the CKPS Sensor dying on me when I've done nothing with it, the symptoms do indicate towards the sensor. So I ordered a new one, installed it, plugged it in, turned the key and it fired up immediately!

I was not elated even though at this point the car would have been sitting in the garage for weeks, I was just feeling so relieved to hear the engine running again.

[Scorpius2501]

Car is out of the garage and back into the sun again. Yay.

This time took it to the workshop so that I can get the Tein Lowering springs installed, along with new Transmission fluid and fuel filter. This completes the 100k km service as specified in the factory manual and now I can move onto exterior mods. In retrospect the lowering springs weren't all that cost effective as it cost about $400 shipped and $600 labour to get them installed. I decided not to install them myself as I'll need a spring compressor for that job. On the other hand if I spend money in the over $1k ballpark that putting me into the fully adjustable coilovers territory, which I can install by myself with pretty standard tools and provide much more performance and adjustability. Something to consider.

On the plus side the car looks much more proper once its been lowered, I think the stance is just right now. It still scraps on some driveways and speed humps but thats sydney for you!

[hks_kansei]

I know it's too late, but $600 does sound like a lot to install 4 springs.

I can do shocks in and out on my car in about two hours at home, hand tools, no hoist, not particularly rushing.
And maybe another hour for the spring swap, but that's mainly due to the fact my spring compressors arent really the best for the tiny MX5 springs.

A shop would have a hoist, air tools, not be drinking beer, and most of all a proper bench mounted spring compressor, which would mean that the job should only really be 2 hours or so.



Overall though, the car looks good, just be aware that the springs will likely settle over the next few days of driving and the car may drop a bit lower.

[Scorpius2501]

I've decided to complete the exterior before getting into the engine bay.

First thing on the list is the front lip, i was lucky enough to get a lip already in the right colour off a forum member - this saved me a lot of time painting. It completes the look and gives the front end a bit more aggressive profile whilst still remaining sleek and clean. I have to say I'm quite happy with the way it came out. There IS a slight gap on the right side where I could have mounted it a bit better because I made the mistake of mounting by the body clips on the bottom and then sticking it with double sided tap on top. What I should have done is mount with the tape first so there are no gaps and let that positioning dictate where to drill holes on the bottom of the lip of body clips to go in, after the top edges is the most crucial part as its the most visible.

[Scorpius2501]

I know it's too late, but $600 does sound like a lot to install 4 springs.

I can do shocks in and out on my car in about two hours at home, hand tools, no hoist, not particularly rushing.
And maybe another hour for the spring swap, but that's mainly due to the fact my spring compressors arent really the best for the tiny MX5 springs.

A shop would have a hoist, air tools, not be drinking beer, and most of all a proper bench mounted spring compressor, which would mean that the job should only really be 2 hours or so.



Overall though, the car looks good, just be aware that the springs will likely settle over the next few days of driving and the car may drop a bit lower.

Yeah I thought the pricing was a bit excessive, but all the other mechanics around my work area were all booked out. I have a pretty decent compressor with various air tools, a jack but not a hoist obviously. My motto always has been if you are able to DIY then DIY. I'd rather put in my own blood, sweat and tears than to pay someone a higher rate than what I earn to put in theirs.

[hks_kansei]

I'm the same, but frankly, the claw style spring compressors are the most frustrating pieces of crap on the planet.

I would happily pay someone to do that part of it every time.

[speed]

I could have lent you my spring compressors.

[Scorpius2501]

I could have lent you my spring compressors.

Thanks for the offer, I wish I'd known earlier lol. Do we have a thread for tool swaps/lending? Cos I'm happy to lend out my engine hoist and stand for others in need.

[NitroDann]

Aww sheeit.

NitroDann in the hizouse.

Lets make this thing haul.

[Scorpius2501]

oops better update the build log then!

back in November i got a pair of these:


Used them to spray the side skirts and they came out pretty well for Supercheap kit. In addition to the GT wing this completes the exterior mods so now I can move on to the meaty bits.

[Scorpius2501]

Just in time for Christmas I got a gift from Santa.



Adaptronic eSelect039, plugs straight in and no need to spend hours soldering looms, theres plenty of support and has all the basic features I would ever need for turbo mods and then some. Another factor in the ECU choice was the cost being cheaper than the Haltech's and there's a shop 2 streets away from my work (MRC )that sells and supports them.

Andy's vids on youtube also helps out a lot with the basics.

So off I went that evening to go fully fast and furious and caused some danger to manifold!



Also note that I got the Innovate MTX-L which goes well with the Adaptronic and the boost guage as well.

[Scorpius2501]

Now that the ECU is installed I swapped out the Injectors for a set of RX8 420cc's, pretty standard fare.

After a bit of online browsing I came across a set of Toyota COPS which were an absolute steal from China, i think they worked out to be about $60 each brand spanking new. I didn't expect them to be genuine Toyota parts but it seemed like they were.



Going by the Toyota part number they are used in the 1MZ-FE engine, which is in a V6 camry, and research shows that a lot of the MR2 community use that engine for swaps.

That night when I tried to wire up a loom for the COPs my heart sank when I saw this:



They were 2 pins instead of the 3 pins that I was expecting, I had no idea how they work as the stock wiring in my NB8B has wires for the built in ignitors. I had a lot of learning to do. Basically had to figure out how ignitors work and how to interface it with the ECU.

Eventually I learned that a Bosch 0 227 100 211 aka "211" would fit the bill, being a 4 channel ignitor. This is pretty commonplace, its used in Audi's and the VW golf. A quick search on eBay netted me a new module for about 80 bucks.




I was planning to wire them sequentially for the theoretical best results but found out how much of a hassle it was to wire it that way, for very little benefit. Basically if i wire it in a wasted spark configuration it would be much simpler.



Basically the only benefit of going sequential ignition is that the coils will not be firing twice as often as you would in the wasted spark config, but these coils are brand new and they are known for having a long lifespan anyway. I did the maths and at 8000rpm they would need to fire every 7ms, with about 2.5ms dwell time they will be able to complete the charge cycle pretty easily.

[Scorpius2501]

Pic of the engine bay with the intake off so I can access the fuel rail and swap out the fuel injectors.